Lightning Simulation: Computer Model

Developed by Stanley Zhao and Derek Stone for the 2025 Spring UC Davis Be-STARSE Workshop

Designed to model the natural phenomenon of lightning, this comptuer model uses a gradient affected by noise to propagate "lightning" tiles and simulate the spread of lightning through the atmosphere. Darker areas represent areas of higher potential, and lighter areas represent lower potential. The potential gradient is also affected in weight by the height of elevation of the ground in respective areas, giving lightning the tendency to strike higher areas more often.

Try playing around with different sliders and seeing what the collected data can help you infer about the nature of lightning strikes! (You might need to zoom out a little to get a view of the entire project)

NetLogo Web: lightning

lightning

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Created with Highcharts 10.3.1Strike CountStrike HeightChart context menuLightning Strikes0501001502002503003504000255075100